Reunion
by cookiecrumbs976
Summary: After being apart for so long, Annabeth figures she and Percy could have their happy ending. But the Fates aren't that kind. Post TLH.
1. Chapter 1

**Short story in Annabeth's POV... please review!**

Ever get that feeling when you just want to curse the gods for how they've plotted things?

_Only all the time._

It's because of my least favourite goddess that I found myself with my boyfriend pointing a sword at my throat.

I didn't know if I should've considered him as my ex boyfriend. Technically, we hadn't broken up thanks to the fact he disappeared a while ago from Camp Half-Blood and ended up at the Roman counterpart to the Greek camp. Before his disappearance, life had been great after the war. I'd finally got that idiot to kiss me, and apparently us as a couple had been long awaited.

And then this new kid Jason showed up with no memory of his past. Initially, I'd been so disappointed when I saw him instead of Percy. By the time he'd come back from the crazy quest of his, he'd regained some of his memories and told me that my boyfriend was at a Roman camp and probably had amnesia, just as he had.

That _sucked._

For days, as we prepared to sail on our ship and head over to the Roman camp, I fumed about the whole situation. I also found myself looking forward to our reunion. Sure, he'd have no memory of the fact we were a couple, but I just needed to see him to make sure he was alright, you know, to make sure the very violent and brutal campers at the Roman camp hadn't left him to die or that the wolves hadn't ripped him into pieces.

When we entered the camp, I'd tricked myself into believing that he had also regained some of his memories and that we'd fall right back to where we were before he left.

Unfortunately, when our campers poured into the Roman camp, the Roman kids weren't all that friendly.

I stepped forward to explain why we were there, but the Romans demigods must've been a lot stupider and bolder than us and before I knew it, I got knocked onto my feet. My back landed on the dust, hard. The world unfocused for a moment. When my eyes worked again, I was looking into Percy's eyes.

They were still the same shade between blue and green. I would've hugged him, but moving meant getting my windpipe sliced.

When I imagined the hundreds of possibilities of how our reunion would go, I never imagined him to be holding me _hostage._ He'd adapted into the Roman camp with more ease than I expected. I kept looking at him, not believing this was happening. He looked at me with no recognition at all.

"What in Hades are you doing, Percy?" Travis demanded.

Percy looked startled and his grip on the sword loosened somewhat. "Wait, how do you know my name?" He sounded so clueless. Just like how he would be before.

Jason slipped out from the crowd. The side of the Romans gasped. A couple of campers called out his name. He held his hands up to shush them. "I know I disappeared on you guys… sorry, but that definitely wasn't on my agenda," he said. "I'll explain everything if Percy lets Annabeth free."

I went cross eyed trying to estimate the distance between the blade and my neck, waiting for him to release me. He didn't. "Percy," I said. "It's me. Annabeth."

"Who?" Strands of his hair fell in front of his eyes.

I would've slugged him, but he was standing above me. "Me, Seaweed Brain." My voice was cracking. "Don't you remember?" I bit down on my lip, waiting for the nod that would never come.

He shrugged. "Listen, I have no idea who you are, so I'm sorry if we were friends or something before."

My fists tightened. _Screw you Hera. Screw you and your _stupid_ plans._ The words were on the tip of my tongue. But I didn't say the words because that would've meant getting pooped on by a cow. "You heard Jason. Let me go."

"Yeah, you should probably let her go," some guy out of my vision muttered. Percy moved the sword tip away from me. I closed my eyes and waited five seconds before I got up and dusted myself. A large bump throbbed on the back of my head.

"This better be serious," he announced to the Greek side. He didn't put the cap to his sword, indicating he was still wary. I stumbled back to my cabin mates, wondering how our fairy tale ending at the end of the war could've transformed into this. I didn't hear the exchange between Percy and Jason. I just leaned against my younger sister's shoulder and started sobbing.

I'm a tough girl. I don't cry often. But at that moment, I realized that I probably lost Percy forever. Sure, he'd get his memories back, but it was obvious he'd changed so much he would probably not want any business with me after the whole thing finishes.

Piper kept telling me it was okay but I dried my tears quickly. Determined not to show any more weakness, I crossed my arms and deliberately looked away.

But I couldn't help sneaking a few glances.

A group of campers marched off with another group of Roman campers to a cabin. I was supposed to be with them, helping the campers negotiate why the Romans should help us. However, I stayed rooted, hidden among the other remaining campers.

Someone tapped my shoulder. I whirled around, ready to defend myself for my moment of weakness. "Oh," I said, deflated. "It's you." I kicked the dirt and noted how Percy was wearing sandals. For the first time, I took a good long look at him. I'd been too busy goggling at his eyes to notice he'd been decked out in full gladiator armour.

"I… um…" he absently scratched the back of his head. "This is actually really awkward for me, but that girl over there's telling me I should talk to you." He pointed. I followed his finger and glared at Piper's red curls because her head was turned away from me.

"Well then, talk," I said.

He shifted back and forth on his feet. "I'm sorry I put a sword to your throat," he blurted, "but we weren't expecting visitors. I'm Percy, son of Neptune." I flinched. He held out his hand.

I crossed my arms again, ignoring it. He let it fall. "You don't remember anything at all?" I asked.

"I've got no clue of anything." He shrugged. "Amnesia sucks. So you're part of the Greek camp. Camp Half-Blood?"

I nodded. "Percy, you used to be part of that camp."

"Hard to believe it," he said harshly. "For all I know, Jason might as well be feeding me lies."

"It's true," I replied, shaking my head. "Everyone around us? They're your friends. Well, most of them anyway…" He still looked blank. "You were like a celebrity at Camp Half-Blood. You helped defeated Kronos –"

"Who?"

"Saturn," I snapped. "He was really evil, but I guess none of that matters anymore because _you can't remember!_"

He backed away. _So he still gets scared when I'm in one of my moods…_ I sighed and told myself that this was _Hera's_ fault, not his. But it was so hard to blame the right person when my emotions were jumbled up. "I'm sorry," he apologized when it really was my fault. He looked like he wanted to run. If Grover hadn't appeared, he would've.

I saw Percy's hand tightened on his sword for a second.

"Percy," he bleated. "Oh man, I would've been here right from the beginning but Mr D. needed some help on the ship…"

"Mr D?" Percy asked. Was his mind limited to only repeating phrases he heard? When Romans were described as less smart… Seaweed Brain started to look like a compliment.

Grover groaned. "So you don't really remember anything?"

"No, I don't," Percy bristled. He let his shoulders sag. "Can you answer some of my questions? Fill in the memory gap? If you really did know me, then… Living with a hole in your memory is torture, everyday."

"No problem!" Grover, well, had no problem. "Assuming you don't remember anything…" he waited hopefully. "Okay, you don't. I'm a –"

"Faun," Percy guessed.

Grover made a buzzing noise. "Satyr," he corrected. "Annabeth's the daughter of Athena."

"Minerva," I translated for his gone-Roman mind. "Goddess of wisdom and battle strategies."

"I know that," he said.

"So," Grover continued, "We're best friends. Always have been since the first day of grade six."

"Then who's she?" he asked.

"Annabeth is your _girlfriend!_" Grover cracked up, as if this whole memory problem was a whole joke. My fists clenched even tighter.

"G-Girlfriend," he stammered. He'd suddenly turned pale white, and then his cheeks reddened. "No wonder you were so upset –"

"Still am," I cut him off. I straight at his eyes hopefully. "I'm patient," I said. "I can wait until your memories come back." He still looked dazed. "Percy?" My arms were slightly raised; I was expecting a hug. Percy took a step forward.

"Percy!" A girl ran up and planted a kiss on his lips. "Who are you talking to?" she asked curiously, turning to us. It didn't help that she was way prettier than I was. It certainly didn't help when Percy responded with a shrug. I turned a full 180 degrees and walked away from him.

All this time when I'd been waiting for him, he'd already moved on.


	2. Chapter 2

**This was originally going to be a oneshot, but after getting reviews asking me to continue, I've decided to do so. :) Thank you to everyone who reviewed/favourited my story and I would definitely appreciate it if you review! **

**Two**

"Okay," I called to the group of demigods. "We should be getting down to the mess hall by now. I'm assuming you have one... no?" It was tough not to use the terms we used from Camp Half-Blood. I saw a couple of Roman demigods glare at me for the mistake. Not everyone took to our arrival kindly. Heck, most people wanted to feed us to the next monster that dared attack the camp.

"Who made you our leader?" demanded a boy with blond hair. He was about my age and was currently sharpening his knife. I looked at the large group and noted that every single one of the campers looked ready to tear me into pieces.

_Hm… not too good if we're planning to unite and take down Porphyrion._

"Where's yours?" I made a show of looking at the crowd. "Don't see anyone stepping up here." Uneasy of the looks of hatred, I turned away and saw the Venus demigods mingling with Piper, probably bonding by trading makeup tips.

Jealousy. Piper had it easy.

"Sorry I'm late!" someone called behind me. I turned around and eyes shifted to the newcomer.

My stomach lurched immediately. It was that girl.

"_That's_ our cabin leader," the boy said and crossed his arms triumphantly.

The girl stuck out her hand. "Valerie," she introduced herself and looked up at me. "Oh," she said flatly and it was obvious neither of us wanted to become friends. "You're that girl."

"Funny, that's exactly how I'd describe you," I replied. She could've been my sister. Correction. She technically was my half sister. We shared the same traits everyone else in the Athena and Minerva cabins had. Blond hair and grey eyes. I looked back to the crowd, and she dropped her hand. "So. Dinner? Or are you just going to stand here glaring at me and starve?"

They grumbled. I wondered if it had been such a great idea boarding the ship. After all, all I'd gotten was seasickness and _oh yeah_ my boyfriend ready to kill me, along with a bunch of other Roman campers.

"Let's go," Valerie said and they followed her like she was the Sheppard and they were the sheep. I waited until they'd passed me and then headed, not to the mess hall, but to Jason.

So Percy had gotten himself another smart girlfriend. I pictured him and Valerie sitting by the lake and laughing their heads off. Guess it was his nature to choose another daughter of Athena – Minerva.

Somehow, it made it harder and easier at the same time to hate her.

Jason was swinging his sword around. "Hey Annabeth," he greeted. "Let me guess, you've met Valerie."

My hands closed into fists. "Is she really a camp counsellor?"

"Yeah. At least she was since the last time I was here. I think." He frowned into the metal of the sword, watching his reflection. "My memory still has holes. Is Percy…?"

"No," I said. "He doesn't remember anything at all."

"Just give it some time," he said. "It's gradual."

"But… we're here. We've united the two camps. Shouldn't he have gotten his memories back as soon as we got here?"

"Give it some time Annabeth," he repeated and watched the sunlight glint off the surface. "He'll come around."

"But when he does, do you think he's going to want to come back to Camp Half-Blood?"

When he spoke, his tone was slightly annoyed, though he tried to hide it, being the polite guy he usually was. "I don't know, Annabeth. How about you ask him yourself?"

I walked away, decided I wasn't very hungry, and walked into the forest. I kept my dagger out just in case Lupa the wolf kept monsters stocked up in there as a warning not to enter though I saw no warning signs.

Cautiously I walked along the trail. It stopped by the edge of a lake. Water lapped at my feet. I took off my sneakers and shivered when the cold water enveloped my bare feet.

The setting sun turned the sky into an artist's palette, blending reds and oranges and purples together. My stomach rumbled loudly. I ignored it and took a few steps away from the path and then watched a canoe cut through the reflection, creating waves.

"Hi," Percy said shyly, beaching the canoe and putting the paddles at his side. He was wearing only his swimming shorts. "Aren't you supposed to be eating dinner?" He jumped out of the canoe with a towel over his shoulder.

"New York's a few hours faster," I said. "I ate on the ship," I lied and then gave him a brief smile. "So, um… Percy. You swim?" As if I didn't already know that. But I figured it was less weird for him if I pretended if we were meeting for the first time.

"Yeah," he said, tilting his head. "Being the son of Neptune, I thought you'd figure that out, being the daughter of Miner – Athena."

My heart pounded. "You remember?"

"Um…" he took a step back. "No. I heard. Sorry to disappoint."

He stared at my toes. I looked somewhere to his left, suddenly very interested in the canoe. I'd messed up again and now we'd lapsed into silence.

Finally, Percy cleared his throat. "I've been thinking about what you said. No one's telling me anything but… it makes sense. My name, Perseus. It's Greek. Jason's been through exactly what I've been through so it would make sense for an exchange so the two camps would unite."

"You figured all that in several hours?" I asked sarcastically.

"I'm guessing that before someone bumped me on the head _really hard_ we weren't the type of people to make googly eyes at each other."

"Now where did you get _that_ thought from?"

"You're being sarcastic again," Percy said.

"Nice job, Captain Obvious," I said wryly.

"Back to you, Lieutenant Sarcasm," he said and rubbed the towel through his hair. "So anyway, I've been wondering why you called me 'Seaweed Brain'. That's not a nickname girlfriends usually give to their boyfriends."

I laughed. "Would you rather I call you 'pookie pie' in front of all your tough Roman friends?"

Percy made a face. "Probably not." He leaned over the canoe and pulled out a dry shirt. Then he tugged it on.

"I started using the nickname a _long_ time before we got together," I explained. "Say… five years, when we were twelve? You were the new camper and well… not so bright."

"Hey!"

"Then the three of us – me, you, Grover – we went on a quest and got ourselves killed a bunch of times."

"Really?" he gaped. "Wish I could remember that."

"If I remember correctly, two major gods wanted to kill you." I shrugged. "We survived."

"And after that?" He sat down and patted the patch of sand beside him. As I sat down, my mind went on overdrive. _So he's inviting me to sit next to him. We'll probably be talking for some time then. This is a good thing…_

"You went home," I said. My calm voice wasn't reflecting the excitement. "Next year, Grover got kidnapped and was forced to become a bride to a Cyclops – a monster with one eye. We snuck out of camp, breaking tons of rules, and almost died about another million times but we rescued him before he could say 'I do'."

"Sounds like I was a pretty crazy person back then," he said, "risking my neck like that."

"Your hubris is personal loyalty," I said. "That's what mom told me."

"Isn't that some brown stuff they spread on veggie sandwiches?" he blinked.

"That's _hummus_, Seaweed Brain," I laughed. It sounded to me kind of sad. He didn't remember rescuing me from the sirens.

"Okay," he said. "Then the next year?"

"The next year…" I trailed off. "A titan kidnapped me. They're like the aunts and uncles of the gods. I had to hold up the sky for a while."

"And I rescued your sorry butt," Percy finished with a grin. "Like the prince and the damsel in distress."

"I was _not_ a damsel in distress," I defended. "You didn't look too good after holding up the sky either." I reached out to his hair. "Can I…?"

He let me. My fingers found the streak of gray. "You have one too," he said and tugged on my curls. We were face to face and this close from each other.

For a second, I thought we were going to finally –

No jealous Valerie burst on scene to separate us. Percy just looked away, let go, and cleared his throat. I leaned away from him, and examined the sand between my toes. _This close but he _has_ to –_

"So," I continued in a falsely cheerful voice. "The next year we did the typical stuff – almost die another million times. We went through Daedalus's maze. You can look it up later. So we did all sorts of other crazy stuff like escape from Alcatraz and you blew up a volcano." I didn't mention the kiss. It was obvious Percy was feeling guilty about being here with me when he was supposed to be eating dinner near his girlfriend.

_Does this make us exes?_

"And finally…"

"Kronos?" Percy guessed. "He's like the big bad titan, right?"

"Yeah. He started messing around with everything back during your first year. By this time, he had assembled an army of monsters and rebel demigods. Oh, and his goal was to kick the gods out of power. Thanks to Nico Di Angelo –"

"Who?"

"I was getting there," I scowled. "He's the son of Hades. Pluto. Our own prince of Hell. He suggested you dump yourself in this river that could make you invincible."

Percy nodded slowly. "So that's why I can't get hurt," he said.

"Except for one spot on your back." I pointed rather than showing him. Things didn't get more awkward. "If someone stabs you there, you die," I said tonelessly.

He reached for the small of his back. "Glad to know that. Did we defeat Kronos?"

I smiled. "Are we alive? Yeah, we defeated him. That's when you stopped being an idiot and realized I liked you. After that, it was like a fairy tale…" I hugged my knees to my chest, nostalgic. It was by – and in – a lake like this one that we'd kissed for the second and third times. "You gave up immortality, you know?"

"I did? Must've had a pretty important reason for doing so."

He never did tell me why. But I could recall that moment of panic clearly when I thought he really was going to leave us behind forever. He'd looked at me. _I_ had changed his mind.

Maybe that was a little exaggerated.

Percy stood up and brushed sand from his legs. "It's late," he said and helped me up. "You don't want to be in the forest at night with monsters creeping around."

"Not on my to do list," I agreed, waiting as he pulled the canoe back on land and left it there.

"It was nice talking to you," Percy said. It was now so late I could see only shadows on his face from this distance. "You don't seem like a bad person."

"Get to know me a little longer…" I joked. And then I was serious. "What are you going to do once this is all over?"

"Crash into bed and sleep for a long time."

_That's not what I meant._ I bit down the words. But he knew it too. He just didn't know how to answer the actual question.


	3. Chapter 3

**Here's Chapter Three!**

**Three**

I was homesick.

Or camp-sick. Whatever the term was. Yeah, I was in the Roman camp, but Hades, I preferred Camp Half-Blood a lot more than here.

I thought I was competitive. That was before I met the Roman campers. They were vicious to the point you wondered if they'd ever heard of fair play. Every one of them was just like Clarisse. I was pretty sure the girl was in heaven. Getting to maul people everyday down by the sword fighting arena, with no rules? The sickening thing was that most campers watched and cheered them on just the way I'd read about in a book about the Coliseum.

I gritted my teeth as I watched the two swords clashed and kept telling myself that we technically had the same parents.

Every day, I headed down to the arena to watch, doing nothing else. Despite how gruesome it was, I was among the audience. Okay, maybe they seemed a lot more dumb than us, I could learn things from their strategies.

No, I wasn't watching to make sure Percy wasn't among one of the competitors.

Swear to the gods.

Maybe I was.

Though I had no reason to be. I was aware of the fact I was acting more like a mom than a(n) (ex) girlfriend. Love does that to you. The entire camp was probably aware of that fact. Following around at a distance like polite paparazzi, Percy, Valerie and I were the talk of the camp. Everyone likes a tragic love story.

Did I say tragic? Yes, this story felt damn tragic to me, okay? I knew I should just play to noble ex (?) girlfriend and just leave Percy and Valerie in peace, but there was no way I was letting Percy go after months of searching. I deserved him! Besides, I didn't like Valerie.

I was biased.

Sighing, I turned back to the words on the page, balancing the heavy book on architecture on my lap.

Piper turned to me. "I don't remember us being so competitive," she said. The roar of the crowd drowned her out. She seemed anxious and her fingers were twisted together into a knot. She turned back to the fight and craned her head. I dropped the book onto my seat and stood up, on my toes to see why suddenly the crowd had started cheering a lot louder.

"Isn't that Jason?" I could see his blond head whipping around, parrying the attacks of a sword I knew too well.

Riptide.

"Tell me this is a friendly match." I tried to sound indifferent. Percy didn't need me to baby me. Percy was a _really_ good swordfighter – better than Luke. But Jason was a suitable match. How else had Jason become the leader of the camp? I tucked my hair behind my ears and watched.

For ten minutes, they sparred, and the crowd was no longer cheering but holding its breath. Their shirts were soaked with sweat but both of them refused to back down. More campers pushed their ways onto the stands until it seemed it was holding everyone at camp. They pushed and jostled to get a good spot to watch. I nearly fell on top of Piper and turned to glare at the person who had done so.

Ten seconds later, Percy jerked his head away just in time, almost getting his head lobbed off. A few second later, Jason narrowly missed a swing meant for his stomach. The two boys stayed in concentration. The stadium held its breath.

Want to get a demigod with ADHD to concentrate? Place two of the best swordfighters in front of them. Oh, and make sure one's Roman and one's Greek. In a way, this was a competition to see which camp – and civilization was better. Sure, we've accepted Jason as one of our campers and same with Percy with the Roman camp, but who could help but be curious?

After another five minutes, Chiron broke up the duel, presumably to let other people practice. The two guys shook hands. The crowd roared, satisfied, for now.

"Let's go meet them," Piper said excitedly. The two boys were looking into the crowds. I picked up my book and stumbled over someone's foot. The next time I looked down, Valerie had thrown her arms around his neck was giving Percy a pretty deep kiss.

I was too late. "I'll stay here," I said, ducking my head when down below, Valerie whipped her head around. I was not going to give her the satisfaction of seeing me ridiculed. "Go on ahead."

Piper stopped and looked down. Her cheeks turned pale. "It's okay," she said. "Jason's… kind of busy." The younger girl crossed her arms and I let her sit down beside me.

Half the crowd slowly filtered out of the arena.

"I knew it would probably happen but…" she stopped there.

"You too?" I asked.

"Yeah."

I put my arm around her shoulder as a friend. "At least he remembers you."

By noon, I was seething about the kiss. I couldn't let the memory go. For her to just claim him with no respect… I spent the afternoon in the arena, hacking at dummies because I was supposed to stay with the Minerva cabin. I kept myself entertained thinking of the possible ways I could slaughter the girl. _Gods, I'd just love to battle against her right now._

Two hours later, someone came up with that idea. When Piper begged that I absolutely had to do this and kick their Roman butts, I suddenly wasn't so sure.

"It's in the name of romance!" Piper declared. She was the most aggressive daughter of Aphrodite I'd ever met. "Okay? It's so Percy can see how strong and smart you are."

"Say if I lose?"

"Don't," she advised and pushed me towards Valerie, who was giving lessons on how to do a complicated strike. The girl she was demonstrating with looked battered and bruised and eager for a break. I overbalanced and crashed into the guy who'd challenged me on the first day.

"Watch it," he growled. What was his name again…?

"Lighten up," I retorted. "People trip." Much to Piper's disappointment, I left the Minerva cabin alone and kept walking to the armoury.

Piper caught up with me. "Annabeth…"

I shook my head, my fingers ready to plug my ears. Thanks to her charm speaking abilities, I was more tempted than I wanted to be. "Piper, not now. I'm not some character in a romance novel. Besides, if I'm going to get Percy back, it's going to be fair and square –"

"Which you'll do with a battle," Piper said. "I'm a daughter of Aphrodite, and I say that you should."

"A violent daughter of Aphrodite," I muttered and ducked as a heavy wrench flew from inside the armoury. By now I was half swayed.

"Please –"

Leo poked his head out. "No one hurt?" he asked cheerfully and coughed, his entire face was covered with soot. "Oh, hi Annabeth. Did you see that fight between Percy and Jason today?"

"No," I said, annoyed by his reminder. "I didn't, okay?"

"Good, then you didn't see the –"

"Leo," Piper interrupted. "She saw. I saw. By the way, do you know the name of the girl who kissed Jason?"

He lost his smile. "If I tell you, are you going to kill her?"

"No," she said sweetly. "I just want to know."

"Reyna."

"Thanks," she chirped in a brighter voice than her expression.

Leo looked as if he regretted telling her that. "Okay, you are scary good with that charm speaking you do. Now I'm gonna leave before you drive me insane…" He popped his head back in and shut the door firmly.

Piper went back to being pissed. "Reyna… don't you have the urge to beat the crap out of her?"

"Okay," I said and took a step away. "Piper –"

"Shut up!" the same boy shouted. "I can't hear a word she's saying."

"Suck it up!" I yelled back and took out my dagger. "If you can't hear, then it's called _moving closer_."

He bristled.

Valerie spoke. "Everything all right?"

"Does it look like it?" I asked.

"How can everything be all right when you Roman idiot stole her girlfriend?" Piper shouted dramatically. I clamped a hand on top of her mouth but didn't counter the thought.

The boy – this guy had gotten on my nerves way back – sneered. "If you really want your boyfriend back how about you two have a duel? Winner gets –"

"That's stupid," Valerie and I said.

"I'm not fighting her," Valerie confirmed. "Yes, I hate her –"

"Feeling's mutual," I added in. Piper's lips moved but my hand was still on top of her mouth.

"But I'm not going to fight over a guy. Now _that's_ stupid." She swept a challenging glare at everyone, daring them to contradict her.

The entire group, especially Piper, looked disappointed.

"Now do you want to learn this move or not? We're sailing to Greece soon so we need to learn all we can. Oh, and if you can't hear what I'm saying, I can help you catch up by partnering up with you later." She directed her gaze at the rude guy.

He sulked. I got the feeling he'd fought with Valerie before.

I hung around long enough to watch Valerie pair up everyone in partners. Then I turned around to leave with Piper.

"Wait… Annabelle," Valerie called.

"Annabeth." Most likely she messed up my name on purpose. I faced her.

"Oh. Sorry, I didn't know that." She bit on her lower lip. "I think we should talk. About Percy."

I gave Piper a little nudge. She sighed and left the swordfighting arena.

"I'm listening," I said.

"I know I've been mean to you so far," Valerie admitted. "_But_ you haven't been exactly kind to me either."

I waited for her to continue.

"I'm not the bad person you probably think I am," Valerie said. "I actually think we're really alike. When you came to camp and I found out who you were, I really wanted to hate you. It would be easier for me if I hate you. But… I don't."

How? I've been nothing but cold to her. I gritted my teeth. It was getting a lot harder to resent her.

"One, Percy must've had a reason to like you. Two, you're a strong person. I admire your courage. To get through an ordeal like one you're experiencing right now, it's pretty tough on your heart." Then her tone changed from friendly and amiable to something tougher. "But Annabeth, I'm still holding on to Percy. It's not because I'm heartless… but I really love him."

I examined her with a critical eye, not answering, just analyzing. How could she think she was in love with him? Yes, she was around my age, but Percy and I were for _each other_.

What was I talking about? As a daughter of Athena I should've known to be more open minded.

"You do?"

She nodded.

"Valerie… I'm not backing down either," I said. "It takes a lot of love for him to actually notice your feelings. I know you love him and I can't change that. The problem is I love him too."

**Since I'm having trouble thinking of a name for that annoying boy, feel free to suggest one. :) **

**One last thing: Thank you to everyone who reviewed/favourited/story alerted this story. You made my day.**

**~cookiecrumbs976**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter four! :D Once again, people who reviewed/story alerted/favourited my story, you're awesome. To people who are reading this story, you're awesome too. Something not awesome? Learning Latin with a crazy Latin teacher.**

**Four**

Though I'd known for a while that there was no way Valerie was going to back down, after that conversation, it pretty much became a competition. Of course, considering how dense Percy could sometimes be, I wondered if he'd even notice the whole thing.

It was like I was twelve again. Except another girl was crushing on him and I was pretty sure it wouldn't end with a catfight. It had taken four years for him to get it last time. Gods after the kiss in the volcano I though it would be all over. Rather, it took him another year. Percy was slow.

Unfortunately, there were no books that the Minerva Cabin had on love spells or tips (This was unlike me but there was no way I was going to wait until I was 21. I needed the next fastest thing after 'I'm pregnant'.) Even if there were, I wasn't the most fluent in Latin though I'd tried to pick it up here at the camp. _Ego… Amo… Tu._ It didn't come as naturally as Ancient Greek.

So, with no books in hand, I went to the next best thing: Piper.

She was unlike the other Aphrodite members or any child of a love goddess in a way because she didn't care much about designer clothes and Gucci handbags, which made it a lot easier to get along with her. I hoped she was an expert in love and stuff.

"Um… love?" she stared at me like I'd just spouted heads. "Annabeth Chase… Counsellor of the Athena cabin… not know a single thing about how to get a guy?"

"I know how to! It's just those methods aren't exactly efficient." I waved my hands around. "I know this is out of character –"

"Annabeth, believe it or not, every single guy who's worth it is thick skulled," she stated and spread her fingers. "Jason probably still doesn't know that I like him, and probably won't ever know that thanks to _Reyna._" She looked sourly at her hands. "Just give it time."

"Time… You're great help," I snapped and stalked away.

That _was_ a little mean.

I went back to the Minerva cabin and searched for something that would calm my mind. Maybe I should stop focusing on my non existent romance life and more on the impending threat of evil giants. Tell you the truth, I hadn't been helping much over the past few days. I pulled out a bunch of maps and studied them, hoping that some brilliant strategies would help for when we would finally sail over to Greece.

That didn't help me. It made me more anxious and aware of the growing list of problems I had.

I rolled the maps back up and put them back in their respective places.

Ten minutes later, I was dragging the canoe over the sand towards the water.

I wasn't exceptionally good at canoeing. I was mediocre. Maybe even a bit below average. But Percy seemed really calm the other night after canoeing so I decided to give it a shot, even if it may only be because he had this whole water thing.

I shoved the canoe into the lake with another strenuous push. Then I kicked off my shoes and jumped in before it floated too far away. Then I turned the canoe around and began paddling towards the centre of the lake.

My arms kept pushing the canoe forward. This wasn't exactly peaceful but the rhythmic motions of paddling were soothing on my mind. A bit. I was still thinking about the problems. But coming out to the centre of a lake seemingly a million miles away from everyone else put all my problems at a distance too.

It was quiet. It was isolated. It was a really beautiful place. It just wasn't Long Island.

I stopped paddling and gave my wobbling arms a rest.

The sun had stopped high above my head. I pondered whether or not the absence of sunscreen was a really bad thing, and then leaned back against air, closing my eyes. Suddenly the nights with no sleep caught up with me. If only Percy kept cushions in stock in his canoe. Was it his? Or was it the camp's?

The canoe rocked back and forth slightly. I opened my eyes and frowned. The waves in the lake couldn't have been this strong. There was something in the water. Carefully balancing myself – if I leaned too far, I'd tip the canoe – and looked into the clear water for any signs.

A hand reached out of the lake.

I shrieked, jerked back, and ended up flipping the canoe upside down.

I plunged down into the cold, murky dark lake water. This lake was beautiful? What? I forced myself not to panic and opened my stinging eyes, looking for the way up. My eyes began burning and I closed them again.

Someone grabbed my wrist and dragged me to the surface. Instead of next to the canoe, I surfaced directly underneath it, breathing in the air the canoe had trapped.

"You all right?"

It was Percy.

_Yeah this place is kind of beautiful._ Yet again, fish boy saved me from a watery grave. "Fine," I said and hacked out a lung as he kept his arms around me. _Real attractive Annabeth. Why don't you pass on an illness to the guy you're trying to get while you're at it?_ "I, um, wasn't expecting to see you."

"The damsel in distress gets saved again," he joked. I would've flick him right there but that would've been kind of awkward. "You stole my canoe," he accused and let go. I began treading in the cold water, searching for details of his face in the dark space.

"I thought it was the camp's," I shrugged. "Free rental for all the campers." Making small talk under a canoe with possible mold growing on the wood. Nice start.

"Technically, not for the visitors," he amended. "Not for the orange shirts."

Right. Orange shirts for Camp Half-Blood. Purple for the Romans. I couldn't see any colour here. "How about we flip the canoe back over?"

"Good idea," he hastily agreed.

I dived under the canoe and came up on the other side, squinting in the sudden bright sunlight. Because water was like steroids to Percy, I let him do all the work in getting the canoe overturned.

"Get on board," he invited. "Here, I'll help you."

"I can get on," I said and pulled myself up, flopping over to the other side like a fish out of water.

I squeezed out the water out of my hair and turned my head side to side. My camp shirt was wet. Whatever. I could get another one at the ship.

"Are you coming up?" I called down, leaning over – though not as much as before.

He put up a finger. "Just a second." Then he dived down straight towards the bottom of the lake.

A hell more than a second passed. I started wondering if I should dive down after him and see if somehow the Son of _Poseidon_ had drowned. _Percy knows what he's doing_, I told myself and focused on getting every single last drop of lake water out of my hair, seating myself comfortably.

Five minutes later, he clambered onto the canoe with a picnic basket in hand. The canoe rocked dangerously from side to side and then stilled, like Percy's presence had some sort of calming effect on the canoe.

"I brought lunch," he offered, holding out the dry picnic basket out to me and sitting opposite to me.

"You managed to steal a sandwich from the kitchen and swim back just in a few minutes?"

He opened it. "No. I stole the sandwich an hour ago. I was going to eat it in this canoe out on the lake for lunch when I found my canoe had disappeared. So I just swam out to it and I had to let go of the basket when you started drowning. The picnic basket was way down there." He jabbed a finger to the bottom of the canoe. "But the sandwich's intact. Thanks to my awesome drying powers." He waggled his fingers. I laughed.

"Let me guess," I said. "The sandwich is blue."

Percy looked strangely at me. "Why would you think that?"

Slip up. Again. Every time I tried bonding with him, I used connections that he couldn't remember. So what was I left with? I shrugged and reached for the picnic basket.

He pulled it back. "Tell me."

"No. It's stupid."

"Annabeth, how can anything you say be stupid?" He cleared his throat, and said quickly, "You being the daughter of um... The smart one."

"Athena." I rolled my eyes. "Never mind that."

"So… blue food? You want to keep your explanation from me or do you want the food?"

My stomach made a large growl. Wonderful. "Your favourite colour's blue, if you haven't figured that out yet," I explained. "Your mom used to make almost everything she cooked blue. It was supposed to mean something."

"Oh." Percy's mood dropped. "Is my mom nice?"

"She's pretty awesome." _From what you told me._ I held out my hand. "Don't leave a girl starving."

"Right." He pulled out the first messily made sandwich. "It's kind of messy. I, uh, didn't have much time before the kitchen monsters came after me." He split it into two triangles. I took one. "I usually come out here for lunch. Ever since it began getting warm." He took a bite. "I like canoeing. It helps."

"With what?" My words came out deformed, my mouth sewed shut with gooey peanut butter.

"Loneliness, you know? Everyone was pretty suspicious of me when I arrived and those feelings haven't exactly changed over the past few months. Valerie's one of the only ones who has been nice to me. Campers are really competitive here."

_Figured that out,_ I thought wryly.

"The only reason why no one's killed me yet is because that would piss Neptune off. And because I can beat them in swordfighting." Percy set the picnic basket down.

I kept looking at his purple shirt. And at the new dark tattoo he had on his arm. "Poseidon," I said.

"What?"

"Your dad's Poseidon. There's a difference, more than just the names," I said, repeating the information I hadn't known until Clovis told me about the Roman gods.

"Poseidon," he tried. "Is the Greek camp better?"

I tried to smile. "Well first of all, everyone worships you like a hero instead of secretly plotting how to take you down. It can do wonders for your ego."

Percy wasn't smiling. He considered the last piece of his sandwich and devoured it. "I wish I can remember. You can't understand how much I want to get my memories back."

"Percy –"

"I _hate_ living with this hole in my mind!" he shouted.

I wiped my mouth. "I know. I hate it too, okay? The entire Greek camp hates it and Her – Juno's entire plan that involved screwing around with you and Jason's minds."

He shut his eyes. "Why can he remember and I can't?"

"He can't remember everything," I said, trying to make him feel better. "Maybe it's cause he's back at his old camp."

"When's the next ship to Long Island?"

"There's something better," I reminded him. "_Argos II_. You haven't been mingling much with Camp Half Blood campers, so you might recall something." He didn't look enthusiastic. "Something's better than nothing, right?"

"I don't know…" he said.

"Don't change opinions on me!" I exclaimed.

"What if it's better if I just wait? I don't know if these extra past memories are something I want," he said in a small voice.

_That's stupid_, I opened my mouth to say. But that was cruel. Percy had been through a lot. It was time I start being _really_ patient with him. "That's reasonable. But everyone has been wanting to talk to you for the past few days. I think they're afraid you've crossed sides forever," I smiled. "Come on. They're in the farmhouse right now. We'll just row back and walk through to the other side of camp."

Percy shook his head. "No. You see…" He winced like what he was going to tell me was very painful news. I stiffened. "Valerie told me to keep away from you."

I grew cold. Furious. "What? And since when did you listen to start following what people told you to do?"

"Since never," Percy said simply. "I'm here with you right now, aren't I?" And then he grinned, his green-blue eyes lighting up. I stopped tensing up. Those eyes looked straight at me. "We'll take the path around and use the back entrance. No one will see us."

"A criminal mastermind as always," I said amusedly. Relief coursed through me. At least he hadn't lost his mind. _Valerie, 0. Me, 1._ Then before I could stop myself, I blurted out, "You should break up with Valerie."

_ADHD sucks._

My mind scrambled for obvious reasons. "She's acting as the controlling girlfriend. That's not… good." _Gods Annabeth. Daughter of Athena and the only phrase you can come up with is 'not good.'_ "You can't let her take over!"

Percy turned away from me and grabbed the oars. "Let's get going," he said to the wooden bottom of the canoe.

He turned his head back just for a brief second for me to see that he was doing more thinking than talking. Considering my statement.

Something was better than nothing, right?


	5. Chapter 5

**Here's the final chapter. **

**Five**

Sneaking into the farmhouse through the back door was easy, mainly because someone had put Clovis on duty. We stepped over the sleeping boy and continued our way inside.

I told Percy to wait at the back door just in case someone saw him. When I opened the door to the war room, no one was seating around the wooden table, except for Sean – the annoying son of Minerva – who was polishing the mahogany table.

He raised his head.

"Where's everyone else?" I asked him, in a non hostile tone, because the last thing I needed was for us to start arguing.

"Meeting adjourned an hour ago," he replied in a clipped tone. "Of course you wouldn't know that because you haven't been helping much in war preparations, have you?" Sean smirked. "You know Valerie knows about you two. She's thinking of breaking up with him."

"Liar."

"It's true," Valerie said from behind me. She looked tired. Weary. Her eyes were red from crying. "Game over. You win. I saw you guys in the canoe."

"Told you," Sean said sweetly.

I wanted to punch that expression off his face. I settled for insulting him in Greek and left the room, leaving him somewhat confused.

Then I stopped and looked at Valerie. "Thanks." A giant burden seemed to be lifted off my shoulders.

Valerie shook her head. "You know things aren't going to be easier with me out of the picture. I've only been an obstacle all along. You've got a long way to go before Percy's… your Percy."

_He hasn't changed,_ I wanted to say. But I bit down on my tongue and nodded.

"So?" asked Percy.

"Change of plans." I took him back outside. "We're going on the ship. The meeting already ended."

"The ship?"

"Yeah." I didn't like his hesitant tone. He was always changing his opinion. Yeah, I should be the understanding ex girlfriend (determined to erase the ex out of the phrase) and be patient with the amnesiac, but patience was never my strongest virtue.

I led the way.

The ship was eerily quiet. Some of the passengers were down at the Roman camp, 'bonding'. The rest were presumably taking a nap.

We navigated past the amenities until we reached the staterooms. I knocked on the second door down, the closest room to Chiron's.

Travis opened it with a toothbrush in his mouth. His hair was still sticking up all over the place and he was wearing pyjamas with little teddy bears. On his feet were bunny slippers.

He put up a finger and closed the door firmly.

Thirty seconds later, he opened the door again with no toothbrush in his mouth. "So, Annabeth," he grinned. "You're finally recruiting Connor and me to prank that girl?"

"That is _exactly_ why Chiron assigned you guys to the room next to him," I said. "Thanks for the offer, but no thanks."

Travis looked disappointed.

"Why are you still in so late? It's like noon."

"Well, Annabeth, not everyone gets up at the crack of dawn." He yawned. "We stayed up late yesterday pranking Nico. Ended up being chased by an army of skeletons – ah, you don't need to know. I figured I deserved some sleep. So, what's up?"

"Percy's here," I said.

"News flash, Annabeth," Travis rolled his eyes. "He's been at the Roman camp for the last half year."

"No, not like _that_ here, but like…" I looked behind my back and noticed Percy sulking to my right. Well not sulking. He seemed more nervous like he didn't belong on the ship. I pulled on his arm. "Here."

Travis stared at him.

Percy's eyes widened. He put his hands in his pockets like he didn't want Travis to take anything.

"You remember!" I said. "You remember he's a kleptomaniac."

Travis cleared his throat. "Er… not very nice. And I don't think that's it. Connor and I sort of jumped him on the second day. No hard feelings?" he asked Percy.

"You took twenty bucks from me."

Travis scowled. "If you really want your money back –" he grabbed a wad of cash. "Here. You know, you wouldn't have minded before."

Percy looked hurt.

I wanted to slice his head off. "Travis –"

He put his hands up. "Sorry. Didn't mean to hurt you. It's just kind of hard on me." Travis slammed the door in our faces.

Percy stared at the cash and balled the bills up in his fist, throwing it at the closed door. "I don't even want it."

I was starting to think it was probably not the best idea to bring him on the ship. I took his hand. "Come on. Grover's next."

"The faun?"

"Satyr."

"Right. That." He stuck his index fingers up behind his head. "I have a best friend with horns," he said, trying to lighten the mood.

We walked five doors down before knocking. No one answered. I put my ear to the door and listened to the silence.

"He's not in," I said.

"Yes he is!" Grover called, running down the hallway with an armful of aluminium cans. "I just found this in the trash! Can you believe how wasteful those harpies are?" He nodded to Percy. "Hey buddy. Can you hold these for me?" Without waiting for an answer, he dumped the load into Percy's arms. "Thanks."

"Did you stop by the coffee station again?" Grover was all jittery.

Percy tried to stop the cans from falling onto the ground.

"I love double espressos," Grover admitted and pulled out a key. He unlocked the door and waved us in. "Oh, and Percy, just put the cans on the desk, thanks."

Percy dropped them on top of the desk. A few cascaded down the top of the pile and fell off the desk, hitting the floor with an empty sound. He jumped, his hand going to his pocket where Riptide probably was.

Grover hit him on the back. "So, where've you been all this time? Man I kept waiting and waiting and waiting…" He took a Coca Cola can and started nibbling on it.

Percy watched him devour the metal. "Uh…"

"Want some?" Grover offered the can. "I really like the tabs." He laughed. "I'm just kidding! So. How are things going?"

"Er… Fine." Percy cleared his throat. "It hasn't been too bad, but you know. Kind of lonely."

"Just wait until after we kick Porphyrion's butt!" He kicked his hooves up. "Then you'll have a great time at Camp Half-Blood."

Percy didn't say anything.

"Where's everyone else?" I asked Grover. "It's quieter than it usually is."

He shrugged. "Maybe 'cause you never come around during the day." Grover finished his can and burped. "Gee, I miss Juniper," he said sadly.

Oh great, everything had to point back to romance.

"What kind of a parent would name their kid Juniper?" Percy asked blankly.

Grover was offended. "She's a – forget it. Anyway Percy, things have been really miserable without you. Glad you're back, even without the memories and all." He attacked him with a hug. Percy jumped, and then shot me a look asking if he randomly got sentimental like this all the time.

Grover started blabbing about all the things we'd done in the past. He wouldn't shut up and followed us out the door, forgetting to lock it. Normally, I would've him to stuff it but I was mentally tired.

"Who's next?" Percy cut through Grover's blather for a moment. "Or are we done here?"

"Rachel. She's on the other side of the ship… you know… girls." I dropped it there and headed in the opposite direction.

"So there we were, being chasing by this giant crazy statue in Hephaestus's junkyard," Grover said. I didn't remember being chased by a crazy statue so it was probably while I held up the sky. "Oh my gods, I thought the enchiladas were going to come up from my stomach."

"Enchiladas?" His pen was out. He fiddled with it uneasily.

"Yeah, while you were talking to Aphrodite, we had dinner. Anyway, then there was this other time where we stumbled into Medusa's lair. I _told_ you something was weird about her but seriously all you guys were doing was eating her food like there was no tomorrow. Sound familiar?" He paused for a moment.

"No."

"Then there was another time where I had to wear a wedding dress for _days_."

"Percy. Put the pen away." Seeing it out made me worried.

He did.

I knocked on Rachel's door.

She opened it. Her forehead was smeared with blue paint and her hands were just as messy. Her apron was splattered with red paint like she'd just been shot multiple times.

"This is Rachel," I introduced.

Rachel reached out and then stopped. "Yeah, probably not a good idea to shake your hand right now." She tried wiping the paint on her hands onto her apron. "I was just doing some finger painting. It's about time you came around," she smiled.

"Are you the daughter of some art god?" he guessed, his eyes darting around the room, taking in the mess.

"Nope. One hundred percent mortal. I'm the Oracle. You know, I spew undecipherable crap every time someone needs to go on a quest."

He looked uncertain on what to say next. "So you spewed undecipherable crap all the times I went on a quest?"

She wandered back to her painting and dipped her fingers into some blue paint. "No, I just became the Oracle less than a year ago. Before that, you were talking to some creepy mummy in the attic."

"Annabeth never talked about you," Percy commented.

"We've only talked like twice. Do you really expect me to mention everyone at camp?" I jumped in.

Rachel shrugged. "Probably because she's feeling protective of you. Before I became the Oracle and the _No Guys_ rule was put down, I was pretty interested in you."

I shifted uncomfortably.

"Annabeth's a really nice girl… if she likes you," Rachel said. "And she definitely likes you." She brushed her fingers in wavy motions on the canvas.

"Grover," I said. "I left my hair tie in your room. Can you go get it? Percy knows what it looks like."

"I do?" He asked blankly.

I pushed him to the door and shut it.

"Annabeth…"

"You just had to bring that up, did you?"

She paused. "What? The compliment?"

"No. The part before that. You made me sound like a controlling freak." I calmed myself down. "I don't suppose you have any prophecies on whether or not we get together in the end."

"Nope." She ran her fingers through her hair, tying the messy red hair up into a ponytail. Now it had blue streaks in it. "Do you want him to get his memories back?"

"Why do you think I'm bringing him onboard?"

"Think about if he never found out about me until he got his memories back. I wouldn't be withholding information."

"I'm not."

"Don't you think he'd get mad?" She squinted at the picture and cursed.

"No. He's _Percy_," I said, which wasn't a very good reason.

"Yeah, but the Roman camp might've changed him. Some people become entirely new people without their memories." She looked at me seriously. "You might have the upper hand for now –"

I didn't feel so.

" – in sharing memories, but you've got to be honest if you want him."

"I have been," I muttered and turned away from her to inspect all the souvenirs on her desk. "Rachel, I didn't come all the way from Camp to lose my boyfriend. How can't you believe I'm trying to help?"

She shrugged again.

"Valerie's going to break up with him. I can't screw up now," I said desperately as Percy came in. I saw his hurt expression and wished I'd shut my mouth up immediately.

He closed the door behind him. "Didn't find a hair tie," he said tonelessly.

How could I be so selfish? I never considered the fact that maybe he was just as in love with Valerie.

"Are you sure you lost it in Grover's room?" Riptide in pen form was in his hand again.

"It's okay, I don't need a hair tie," I said.

The door opened.

I was the only one who saw Grover stumble through the room, and trip over a pillow. The noise surprised us all. I dropped the china tea cup I was examining and froze.

Percy's sword was out. The sword point was at Grover's throat. Suddenly, it was me on the ground again, on that first day, hoping that he'd recognize me.

Things hadn't changed much since that day, really.

Grover gulped. Percy blinked and stepped back and then looked at me. I dropped my gaze to the broken china shards and bent down. "I'm sorry Rachel…" I said and cut my finger on an edge. I swore.

"I should go now…" Percy mumbled. "I don't really belong here." He exited the room so fast he was gone before I could look up.

Rachel took the broken cup fragments from me. "It's okay, Annabeth. Go."

I hurried out the room just in time to see him disappear around a corner. I sprinted after him. Where was he going? He didn't know the ship as well as I did. Eventually, he slowed down, uncertain of his surroundings.

"Percy," I called his name. The deck was empty but the wind was howling despite the clear sunny skies. I had to repeat his name several times before I was close enough for him to hear.

He turned. "Annabeth, I'm sorry. I… don't feel comfortable here. I know I'm supposed to feel at home with everyone but… it feels like I'm on enemy territory. I don't feel safe here, or at the Roman camp… Valerie was my only friend." Percy slumped against the railing. "There's something wrong with me."

I slowed my pace until I was right in front of him. "It's my fault. I was impatient about your amnesia. We should take it slower… I'm sorry." People did change. More than I wanted them to.

I sat next to him.

"Percy. We'll get your memories back. I promise." I slipped my hand into his. "I don't care how long I have to wait or what we'll have to get through."

He put his pen in his pocket, and then took something else out. He looked surprised, as though he hadn't recalled putting it in there. It was a bead necklace. Upon closer examination, I could see different designs on each bead – a blue-green trident, the Golden Fleece, a maze, and the Empire State Building. All representing the adventures we'd gone through.

"Here – I'll put it on for you." I took it and leaned in to secure the clasp.

He fingered the beads. We were so close I could see the tears that hadn't spilled on his eyelashes.

And finally, after months of waiting, I got my kiss.

**End**

**Thank you to all readers, and special thanks to everyone who reviewed, favourited, or story alerted this story. Please tell me what you think.**

**Signing off one last time,**

**~Cookiecrumbs976**


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